The Xfuzzy 3 development environment

The inference monitor tool - Xfmt

The aim of the xfmt tool is to monitor the fuzzy inference process in the system, i.e., to show graphically the values of the different inner variables and the activation degree of the logical rules and linguistic labels, for a given set of input values. The tool can be executed from the command line with the expression "xfmt file.xfl", or from the main window of the environment, using the option "Monitor" in the Verification menu.

The main window of xfmt is divided into three parts. The left zone is used to introduce the values of the global input variables. For each variable, there is a field to introduce manually its value, and a sliding button to introduce the value as a position within the variable range. The right side shows the fuzzy set associated with the value of the global output variables, as well as the crisp (defuzzified) value for that variable. This crisp value is also shown as a singleton in the plot of the fuzzy set (if the fuzzy set is already a singleton, this plot only shows this singleton). The center of the window illustrates the (hierarchical) structure of the system.

The tool also includes a window to monitor the inner values of the inference process on each rule base. To open this window, just click on the rule base on the hierarchical structure of the system.

The rule base monitor window is divided into three parts. The values of the input variables are shown at the left as singleton values within the membership functions assigned to the different linguistic labels. The center of the window contains a set of fields with the activation degree of each rule. The right side shows the values of the output variables obtained by the inference process. If the operator set used in the rule base specifies a defuzzification method, the output value is defuzzified, and the variable plot shows not only the fuzzy value but also the crisp value that is finally assigned to the output variable.

This tool can be used to monitor the behavior of each of the rules bases of a hierarchical inference system (selecting each rule base before invoking xfmt). In this way it is possible to analyze the input/output behavior of a certain rule base by modifying values of internal variables of the system.